JUST GIVE ME JESUS

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:11

Today is one of those emotional days when things just crowd in and squeeze me til I squeak. With the national park roads fully open now, Brian and I took a ride from our place to the nearby town of Gatlinburg. It's a dull and cloudy day which only adds to the gloom of the moment. We drove many of the streets where the forest fire did the most damage. Many of those streets our family has been on through the years but not recognizable right now. For instance, if anyone has been to downtown Gatlinburg and looked up to the nearby mountain that is easily seen, for years there has been a big, beautiful mountain home sitting about halfway up the mountain. I looked for it today and it is mere sticks and rubble now.

We drove some of the streets where the most damage was done. I sat in stunned silence looking at all of the burned out cars...homes and cabins burned to the ground. It was interesting to see some homes destroyed while there was an untouched cabin or house nearby. It probably has smoke damage but it looked untouched by the fire. For us today, it was seeing history erased in large measure from a place millions of Americans have come to know with great fondness.

We drove along narrow winding mountain roads where houses sat in their ruins (one still with slight smoldering) and I couldn't help but wonder how the death toll was so low. Two weeks ago today, fire was blazing on both sides of those roads while people were trying to get down and up the mountain at the same time. Many it would seem had no notice of the extent of the fire. As we drove, there are already builders meeting with owners and Gatlinburg is filled with large trucks from home restoration companies.

A dear lady, who has lost all was interviewed on television. She is one of many who got out with only the clothes on her back and maybe her purse in hand. She is so grateful that her family is alive and well but knows with the others that all worldly goods are gone, never to be completely replaced. I thought of her as I silently looked out the car window at destruction that seemed to zoom by. I recalled a song I once heard that I loved...can't remember the title or all of the words but the last phrase says: “You can have all this world, just give me Jesus.” I wondered about myself, if under the very worst of circumstances if that could be some guiding words in my own life.

We are told that we came into this world with nothing and will leave it with nothing as well. Meanwhile though, we get pretty attached to our “things.” I lean more toward sentimental things that really cannot be replaced....wedding album, my Mother's desk, children's and grand children's pictures, Bibles, some jewelry. They are all apart of this world though, my world and I don't want to lose them. Those folks lost like things and even more. Some children lost pets, a man lost his wife and two daughters, some tourists lost their lives and it goes on and on.

I pray on my own behalf that no matter what my circumstances ever come to be, that my focus will be on what is important...really important. The day will come when I leave all of those things of the world behind anyway. The question for me: “Is Jesus enough?” Even as I type that question, I feel a conviction in my own spirit. Perhaps that's what is left over from this knot in my stomach having seeing so much devastation.

I was blessed as we passed by a stone church. If you have ever driven behind Gatlinburg on the Roaring Fork River Motor Trail, as you exit it and drive a little down the road into town, you come to a church on the left side of the road. It is a stone church, a Baptist church that has stood there for as long as I can remember. It is in shambles and that grieved me even more. Wondering how they were doing, I saw contractors in the parking lot talking to what could be the pastor. I then saw a sign....”While rebuilding, we will meet at Camp Smoky.” That cheered me. Despite the fire, the work is going on even if it must be in a different location for awhile. It is always good to see that God's work doesn't stop. His people see to that. Again I was convicted of the times I didn't feel well and didn't fulfill a responsibility at church. I could have gone and done the task, but in many cases, it was probably laziness on my part.

Take a look at where you live right now and picture it in ashes. Perhaps your house burned while you were at work or at the grocery store. Picture it and your car smoldering. All you have is clothes you are wearing and a wallet or purse. It's hard to imagine, isn't it? That could never happen to us, right? A lady in Dallas I once knew had a gorgeous home in North Dallas that burned to the ground. I talked to her to assure her of my prayers. She said, “Glendarae, a burned down house with everything gone is as close to a death in the family as one can come.”

So I ask us all, would be ready for what these dear folks have experienced? Leaving all the things of the world dear and precious to us....would Jesus be enough? That's what He wants. He doesn't want there to be anything or anyone that comes before Him. He's asks that we forsake all and rely solely on Him for everything. May our honest desire be:

JUST GIVE ME JESUS

Father, I can't relate to these hurting people who have lost so much. Some have no house to go home to, folks have lost their businesses, some have physical needs while others are planning funerals for loved ones. Pour extra mercy and grace into the lives of these precious mountain folks. If any don't know you as Savior, may this be the time they turn to You. In Jesus' precious, saving name....Amen